Every 1 in 15
by Revolutionary Venom
Summary: They say that this particular problem happens every 1 in 15 people in the U.S.
1. Excruciating Pain

HALLO! Recently, I've gotten rehooked on watching the old "Mighty Ducks" cartoons from my childhood. After reading a few fanfics, I decided to come up with one! I hope everyone likes it since it's my first MD:TAS fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mighty Ducks cartoon, the Da Vinci Code book or the Matrix. If I did own any or one, I'd be rich

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

The doors 'whooshed' open to the rec room of the Pond. Duke looked up from his book, "The Da Vinci Code", Mallory from the puck blaster that she was refilling with ammo, Tanya from the newest…creation that she was working on with her Omnitool at the table in the middle of the couches, and Wildwing from (what looked like) a map layout of the ice rink above their headquarters that had several different marks on it. Grin stayed in his "little meditation spot", undisturbed as Nosedive came in.

"How was that weird sci-fi flick that you wanted to go see?" Mallory asked, going back to her ammo for her blaster.

Nosedive shrugged. "Meh," he merely uttered. "Wasn't that great. Thrash and Mookie said it was supposed to be awesome, but I didn't get it." He sat in an unoccupied chair, a frown on his face.

"Not all movies are supposed to be great kid," Duke merely told him, going back to his book. "What did you go see anyway?"

"The Matrix. The theaters around here were apparently re-releasing it for the weekend," Nosedive said.

"Oh well, at least it wasn't, you know, a total loss," Tanya said, lifting up her newest creation. "Wanna help me with this? It's a new kind of puck blaster." Nosedive just shook his head. "I think I'm just gonna go to bed," he answered, rising from his seat and walking out.

The other ducks all looked at each other, even Grin, after the youngest had walked out. "Nosedive tired _this _early?" Mallory asked, stunned. "It's only 10! He's usually bugging us to do DuCaine only knows what on the weekends."

"When we don't have games anyway," Duke said, closing his book and placing it on the table next to Tanya's invention. "Wonder what's wrong with the kid?"

"Our little friend has a clouded aura," Grin simply said, rising. "Something must be troubling him."

The others looked at Wildwing. "I'm sure it's nothing," the leader said. "I'll ask him before I go to bed tonight, but I'm sure that it just has to do with him being disappointed in the movie."

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Nosedive had climbed up into his bunk, facing the wall, curled up somewhat, exhausted, and his side killing him. He wasn't exactly sure when the pain had started (at least, he wasn't sure anymore) but Dive _did _know that he hadn't felt that great for at least the last three days. But he had managed the days out, not bothering the others because it probably wasn't a huge deal. If it was, he'd deal with it later. And the others had always claimed that he "bounced back fast" from injuries, so maybe if he gave it another day or two-

Suddenly, he heard the door to his and Wing's room swoosh open and close. After a few moments, he felt a soft poke to his back. "Hey Dive, you awake?"

Nosedive turned over to come face-to-face his brother. "Yeah, what's up?" he asked tiredly. "Are you feeling alright?" Wildwing softly asked, face full of concern. "You don't sound too hot."

It was times like these, when Wildwing had the mask off for the night or everyone was gone, that Nosedive felt he couldn't lie to his older brother.

Unfortunately, right now was not one of those times.

"I'm okay, I'm just tired," Nosedive lied. He hated to lie to Wing, but he didn't want to bug him about something that might go away soon.

"Are you sure?"

"…yeah."

Wildwing sighed. "Alright, sleep tight. Just remember that we've got practice in the morning."

"Will do," Nosedive answered as he rolled back over. He heard Wildwing rustling around the room for a few minutes, probably looking for some old pajamas, then crawl into the bunk below. "Night Dive."

"Night Wing."

And for a long time after that, Nosedive had a hard time going to sleep. The last thing he remembered was seeing the alarm clock across the room reading 3:27 AM before he finally passed out.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"Hey, wake up!"

Nosedive felt a sharp poke in the middle of his back. He winced slightly, because his side felt worse than it had the night before. More to that, his back was bothering him. He moaned before he rolled over to face whoever was waking him up. "What?"

Duke was the one Nosedive was facing when his vision finally focused. "Whoa, kid, are you alright? You look terrible," the ex-thief said. The teenager in question sat up a little. "I'm fine, just need to wake up," he answered.

Duke could tell that something was up, but he decided to let it go. "Alright, if you say so kid." He shrugged. "If that's the case, I'm supposed to make sure you get up and get to the rink. Wildwing says he's got an idea for a new play and he needs you up there."

The former jewel bandit moved from the ladder that led to the top bunk so that Nosedive could get down. The teen slid down the short ladder, the pain in his side throbbing. "Everyone else already up there?" asked Nosedive, as he tried to quickly grab some clothes. "Well, the play that Wing came up with mainly involves you because of your position as right wing on the ice," Duke told him, turning his back so that the younger one could get dressed. "So he's gonna have you go up against Tanya since she helped him a bit with the play idea. Mallory, Grin, and I are just gonna watch this round."

Nosedive just listened as he got dressed. When he was finished, he tapped Duke on the shoulder. "Do I need my gear?" he asked as the two walked out from Nosedive and Wildwing's room so they could head up to the locker room above.

"From what I know, all you'll need is your skates and a stick," Duke said as they made their way to the elevator that would take them to the rink. "From what I've seen, it's not too hard a play-"

But Nosedive wasn't really listening. He was freezing, which was odd because they hadn't even gotten to the locker room yet. Heck, they were still in the elevator! He felt like he was being stabbed in the stomach, and he wasn't sure he would be able to do whatever Wildwing had in store. But he managed to make it to his own locker when the older drake and himself had made it to the locker room and pull out his skates.

Duke watched as the kid sat down on a bench to tie up his skates. "Hey kid, I'm gonna go tell Wing that your coming, alright?" Nosedive just nodded as Duke left the locker room…

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Duke skated over to the fearless leader, who was waiting in front of one of the goals, talking to Tanya about the play he had come up with. "The kid's on his way," Duke said, stopping in front of the two. "But I don't think he's up to par."

"He did look, well, pretty bad when he, uhm, you know, came in last night," Tanya said, finger scratching her chin. She looked at Wildwing. "Do we go along with what you had planned for practice?"

Wildwing sighed. "I guess so," he said, adjusting one of his gloves. "He hasn't admitted to anything yet, so he probably won't if we pressure him-"

The trio looked over to the rink entrance when they heard another pair of skates suddenly come onto the ice, indicating that Nosedive was now on the rink. Duke and Tanya then looked to Wildwing. "Keep an eye on him," the leader told them. "If something happens, I want you guys close by."

The other two nodded, Duke heading back towards where Grin and Mallory were in the stands and Tanya to tell Nosedive of the play. Wildwing watched his brother with concern, straightening the de-activated mask of Drake DuCaine on his bill. _I hope he's alright_, the leader thought, getting ready for Tanya and Nosedive.

Tanya had just finished telling the younger mallard the play that she and Wildwing had come up with over the past week or so as Duke managed to make his way to the others in the stands. Mallory looked to Duke as he sat down on her left. "So? How is he?" she asked, genuinely concerned after the previous night and seeing his entrance this morning. Duke merely shook his head. "I dunno what's bothering the kid, but he looks sick," he answered. "He looked terrible when I got him out of bed."

"His aura remains the same," Grin said cryptically. "Perhaps, worsened somehow." Mallory looked to Grin as he said this, not getting a good feeling. "Maybe he'll be okay after practice," she suggested, looking back down at the ice rink. The three remained silent as they watched Tanya demonstrate the play, then as she went to her position that she would be taking to work out the new play. Wildwing dropped a puck onto the ice, then hit it to Tanya, who hit it to Nosedive so that they could begin. The youngest stopped the puck, but he wobbled a little. He took a deep breath, cursing himself when his side began pulsating with more pain. Nosedive then started the play, heading towards the goal that his brother was at. However, he hadn't gone more than a few feet when he suddenly fell to his knees, hockey stick on the ice, arms around his stomach.

"Nosedive!" everyone called out, Tanya and Wildwing skating to the youngest as the others ran down the stand stairs as best as they could with their own skates on. Wildwing threw off the mask, dropped his own hockey stick, and quickly removed his gloves when he got to his brother, straightening him up on his knees. The others had reached his side by the time Tanya had her Omnitool out, using it to check Nosedive's temperature. "What happened?!" Mallory exclaimed, wondering what caused the younger duck to just crumple over. "What's wrong Dive?" Wildwing asked, holding his brother upright.

"We need to get him down to the Infirmary _now_," Tanya said, reading her Omnitool. "He's got a fever of, well, 101."

Nosedive just looked up at Wildwing, his eyes beginning to glaze over a bit. "Dive?" the older mallard asked, wondering if his brother was even coherent anymore. The kid stared at him, uttering something that no one but Wildwing could hear, then passed out.

"NOSEDIVE!"


	2. PreOp

OMG! I think I'm officially in love with hockey. I went to my first ever game last night, and it was AWESOME. Only two fights broke out though; strange, I was kinda wanting to see if blood really bounced on ice or not...Anyway, here's the 2nd part of the story. Enjoy!

P.S. I actually looked up the Med-I-Com thing. It's mentioned by name in the episode where Nosedive, Tanya, and Grin get hit by that shrinking ray of Dr. Droid's

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. Or the Zen philosophy that Grin quotes (I can't find the author, but I found it via Google on a list of "Zen Quotes")

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"Nosedive! Nosedive, wake up!" Wildwing exclaimed, shaking his brother in an attempt to rouse him from unconsciousness. "Calm down Wildwing," Mallory said. "Let's get him down to the Infirmary like Tanya said and find out what's wrong."

Wildwing was still for a second, before swiftly picking up the younger Flashblade. He quickly skated off the ice, followed by Tanya. Mallory was about to follow suit when she felt a tug on her arm. She looked back to face Duke. "It won't help any if we're in the way right now sweetheart," he told her. "Let's pick up this stuff, then head back down and see how Nosedive is."

So the three picked up the gear. Duke took the mask, Mallory the hockey sticks, and Grin picked up Wildwing's goalie gloves. They deposited the hockey gear in the locker room before heading to the elevator that would take them back down beneath the Pond…

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

The three found their leader pacing in front of the Infirmary doors, worry clearly marking his face. "Tanya kicked you out?" Duke asked with mild amusement, handing over the mask. Wildwing stopped his pacing, gratefully taking the object from the ex-thief. "Pretty much," he answered. "She didn't want me getting in the way. Something about me getting too hysterical."

"Well, you kinda do overreact sometimes," Mallory said. "Remember when Nosedive fell and managed to create a duck-shaped hole in the snow after that avalanche a few months ago?" Wildwing scoffed. "I did not overreact," he said. "I was worried."

"Maybe so, but you still freaked when we first pulled the kid outta that snow and when we were on the way back to the Pond," Duke pointed out. Grin nodded in agreement.

Wildwing sighed and sat down on one of the bench seats that sat outside the Infirmary doors. He fingered the mask in his hands, as the others took seats as well. "So I might dramatize a bit. I can't help it, he's my kid brother. I'm supposed to take care of him. I promised him that I would when we were back on Puckworld when the invasion started. Even after we joined the team, I told him that I'd protect him."

"This isn't something you could've prevented," Grin said. "As once said long ago, 'Don't wish for perfect health. In perfect health, there is greed and wanting.' "

"Being a bit cryptic there, ain't ya?" asked Duke, sitting back with his arms behind his head. Grin shrugged.

"Is there anymore to that particular quote?" asked Wildwing.

The Zen-oriented duck nodded. " "So an ancient said, 'Make good medicine from the suffering of sickness.' "

It was Mallory's turn to sigh. "I guess that's another way to say that someone has to learn from the bad stuff that happens to them," she commented, elbows on her knees, resting her chin on her hands.

For awhile, the four ducks sat in their seats, waiting for Tanya to come out and possibly explain why the youngest of them all had suddenly collapsed on the ice. Total silence is never a good piece of company when there is much worry, they quickly realized after sitting outside the doors for about half an hour.

They all looked up when they heard the Infirmary doors 'whoosh' open. Tanya came out, looking a tad grim as the others came up to her to find out whatever she had discovered.

"So? What shape is the kid in?" Duke asked. "Yeah, is he alright?" Mallory asked.

"Well, that all depends," Tanya said. "It looks like he's got appendi-appendici--it looks like he needs his appendix taken out."

"What? But why?" asked Wildwing. Tanya just sighed.

"Well, I dunno much about a human's appendix, but I do know that it's a pretty serious now that he's gotten to this point." She shrugged her shoulders. "I checked him over myself, but I'll feel better once the Med-I-Com is done scanning him over so I'll know what to do."

"Can I see him?" Wildwing asked. "Sure, go on ahead, he's been kinda askin' for ya," she said, motioning for him to go in. The usually fearless leader simply nodded and went into the Infirmary, doors closing behind him.

The others looked to Tanya. "So what aren't you telling us?" asked Mallory, looking at her fellow teammate accusingly. "I didn't want to worry Wildwing, but Nosedive needs that thing taken out, you know, right away," Tanya said. "The Med-I-Com is finishing up a scan as we speak and it'll be able to tell how close his appendix is from - uh - bursting."

"Bursting?!"

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Wildwing took a few steps into the Infirmary before stopping and looking at where his younger brother. The kid was on the bed farthest from him, covered up with a sheet to his waist as he lay on his side, somewhat curled up. The Med-I-Com's ring around the head of the bed was steadily turning, scanning the hockey player.

The leader frowned, then made his way to his brother's side. He sat down in a chair (that he guessed Tanya had placed) next to the bed and placed Drake DuCaine's mask on the table next to him. As he took a closer look at his brother, he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for not dragging him out of bed and straight to Tanya to see what was wrong with him the night before.

Nosedive looked horrible. He was facing Wildwing, face contorted in pain (though somehow he managed to look asleep), one hand on his right side while the other laid limply on the bed. The older Flashblade brought one hand to the limp hand, taking a firm grip while he placed his other one on top.

Suddenly, Wildwing felt his own hand being squeezed back. "Nosedive? You awake?" the goalie managed to ask in a soft voice.

The younger duck opened his eyes a little, looking up to his brother with somewhat glazed eyes. "Hey bro," he managed to say. "Tanya finally let you in?"

Wildwing smiled a bit, mainly from relief. "Yeah, she let me in," he said. And even though he knew that it was a stupid question, he asked it anyway. "How ya feeling little bro?"

"Not that great," Dive admitted, curling up a little more in an effort to make the pain go away. "I feel like someone's taken Duke's saber to my side and stabbed me, my back hurts, and I feel like I'm gonna be sick."

"Even more so than you already are you mean?" Wildwing joked, trying to make his brother feel a little better. Nosedive just groaned at the stupid joke. "Aw c'mon, where's the brother of mine who's always throwing cracks and jokes about everything that's going on?"

"He's on vacation, leave a message at the beep," Nosedive said, managing to at least make one joke. He winced when he suddenly felt fresh pain beginning to settle in his side, squeezing his brother's hand hard.

"Not feeling so hot, eh kid?"

The Flashblade siblings looked at the entry of the Infirmary to see the other four members of their team coming in. Tanya came over to the end of the bed to read what the Med-I-Com's system was saying about Nosedive's current condition as the others gathered around the side of the bed that Wildwing sat on.

"Geez kid, you look like Dragaunus ran over you with about a thousand hunter drones," Duke said sympathetically. "Why didn't you tell us you were feeling bad?" Mallory asked harshly. "Or rather, how long have you been like this?"

Nosedive sighed. "I haven't felt that great for the past few days," he finally answered. "I don't remember anymore when the pain started, but I do know it wasn't _this _bad until-" The youngest was interrupted when he suddenly felt a worse pain hit, squeezing the life out of Wildwing's hand, shutting his eyes as tears of pain began to build.

"You all need to go _NOW,_" Tanya said. "He's getting worse and that thing has to come out."

"Don't you need any help?" asked Wildwing, standing from his seat, but not letting go of his brother's hand, reluctant to leave Nosedive. Tanya thought for a second. "Actually, yeah I do," she said. "And Duke's gonna help me."

"Wha, me? I'm not medically oriented," Duke tried to protest. But then he looked back at the youngest of their group, a metaphysical dagger stabbing at his heart, making him feel a sense of sadness. "…alright, if it's for the kid I'll help."

As Mallory and Grin left, Tanya taking Duke over to a corner of the room to explain what they were going to do, Wildwing just stood there as his brother's grip on his hand finally relaxed. Nosedive opened his eyes and looked back up to the team's leader. "It's alright Wing," he managed to say. "Tanya's gonna be like a ninja and do what she's gotta do."

"…why a ninja?" asked the older one. Nosedive managed a smirk. "Because she'll be in and out before anyone knows what's happened," he said.

"Hey Wildwing, can we talk to you for a minute?" Tanya asked from across the room. "Sure," the leader answered. He had let go of Nosedive's hand, but the younger one wouldn't let go. "C'mon Dive, I gotta talk to Tanya."

"…you're not gonna stay, are you?"

This question surprised Wildwing. He knew that he was going to be kicked out of the room like he had been earlier, so he figured that Nosedive knew that too. "I can't," he answered. "But this should make you feel better." He took his hand away and picked the mask up from its spot on the table. "Until Tanya's done with you, you can hold onto this. You were the one who always believed Drake DuCaine was real back on Puckworld, so I think you can hold onto it." He placed the object next to Nosedive.

"…really? You're gonna let me take the mask for awhile?"

"If it'll make you feel any better, then yeah."

Nosedive took a hold of the sacred object, smiling a little. "Thanks Wing." The leader smiled, then went over to the corner of the room to talk to Tanya and Duke…

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Wildwing took a seat on a bench seat outside the Infirmary once again after the doors had closed behind him. Mallory was laying down on the bench across from him and Grin sat in meditation on the floor in front of the red-head. "So what did Tanya want?" asked Mallory, not getting up from her laying down spot. "Nothing really," the unmasked leader answered. "Just wanted to know if Dive was allergic to anything."

"Any idea how long it'll take?"

"About an hour is what I think she said."

The three sat in silence, knowing that this was probably going to be the longest hour of their lives.

At least, their lives since they came to Earth.


	3. Duration

Alright! I'm on a roll for this story it seems! 8D Now, with this chapter, the medical knowledge is a mix of four things: Scrubs, ER, WebMD, and my own personal experiences of hospitals. So I did my best with what I already knew vs. media/internet.

Another thing: I don't think it ever really states if Duke started the Brotherhood of the Blade or was just a member. I watched the last episode "To Catch a Duck" and a bit of "The Final Face-off Part 1", but it didn't mention him being the leader and/or creator of the jewel thief guild in either of the two. At least, not that I can remember between the banter of him and Falcone and Phil's explanation of our beloved Duke.

Anyway, onto the story!....just after these thoughts xD

_Italics_ = thoughts

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS, nor any Zen philosophy Grin quotes (yes, I did another Google search and found a few more good ones)

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

_In the Infirmary…_

Tanya opened a drawer and took out a green outfit. "Here, take off that ridiculous maroon jumpsuit that you, uh, call an outfit and put these on," she told him, handing over the scrubs. Duke took them from her, a look of curiosity on his face as she pulled out another pair. "What are these for?" he asked. "And I'll have you know sweetheart, that this is 'wine-colored' not maroon. Makes me fashionable."

The team tech/designated team medic just rolled her eyes. "Since you gotta, you know, help me, you need scrubs. You also gotta help me take him to our surgical unit."

"We have one of those?" Duke asked, taking the liberty to start taking the gear off himself (including saber, belt, communicator, etc.). "When did we get one?"

She shoved him behind a screen close by so he could change. Duke got the message and started to change into the green scrubs. "I've been working on it for awhile, but was hoping we'd never, you know, need it," she answered. Tanya then sighed sadly, looking to Nosedive. "Guess we'll break it in today."

Duke paused. He hadn't really thought about how serious this was going to be. On Earth, what he saw and heard about appendicitis made it sound like it wasn't so bad - only problem was that the former thief didn't know if it was because humans could catch the signs of it earlier or because Nosedive just hadn't spoke up. Appendicitis, Duke suddenly remembered as he heard Tanya changing behind another screen, was pretty rare back on Puckworld, but he knew some had had it, even after he had joined the Brotherhood of the Blade.

_But then again, none of them had been as bad off as the kid,_ Duke thought as he came out from behind the screen and put his stuff on a nearby counter. Tanya came out, dressed in purple scrubs several minutes later and put her things next to his. "Hey, how come you get to keep your color?" asked Duke, wondering why he had to wear the ugly teal-ish color scrubs.

"Because they actually, you know, make purple scrubs," Tanya simply answered as she pulled a gurney from the corner, stripping the sheet that had been on it and replacing it with a clean one. "They don't make your 'wine-color' that you claim is in style."

The two wheeled the gurney to the end of the bed that Nosedive lay on. "Here, see if you can get him to put this on while I get ready the, uh, you know, stuff ready," Tanya said, tossing (what looked like) a hospital gown to Duke. The ex-jewel bandit caught it and turned to Nosedive. When he looked at the teen, he couldn't help but feel sympathy.

Nosedive was curled up on his side still, eyes shut as if in slumber, but instead of his hands being empty, he was hugging the mask of Drake DuCaine like it was his lifeline. _Guess the kid really wants Wildwing to be with him,_ he thought as he began to wake the youngest up. "Hey kid, wake up," Duke said. "Tanya says ya gotta change."

The teen mallard opened his eyes and looked up at Duke. "Wha?" he managed to ask. Duke held up the gown. "Tanya says ya gotta change into this thing," he simply said.

Nosedive looked at it for a second with glazed eyes. The teen then tried to sit up, but had some difficulty since he had a sufficient amount of pain in his right side, the mask in one hand while the other was trying to push himself up. He finally managed however, and Duke placed the gown on the bed. "Here, let me help you," he said. "I think you'll hurt yourself too much if ya try to do it yourself."

So the whacked-out duck let Duke help him take off the shirt that he had on and put the gown onto his frame, wincing a few times in the process. But he never once let go of the sacred object in his right hand.

When they finished, the gray mallard managed to get the teen to stretch out on the gurney. Nosedive moaned a little, hugging the mask closer as he shut his eyes again. Duke sighed sadly, pushing the gurney over to a counter that Tanya was at, getting something ready.

Tanya came over to Nosedive, IV needle in hand. "Okay Nosedive, for this I'm gonna have to, uh, give you general anethe-anethes--some stuff to make you go to sleep while we take out your appendix." She shifted the mask from Nosedive's right hand to his left, and started looking for a vein in his hand to place the needle.

"So how's this gonna work?" asked Duke, watching as Tanya found the spot she was looking for. She began to tie a tourniquet and put in the IV as she answered.

"Well, when I get him hooked up to this stuff, we'll take him into the next room and do a full-open surgery," she said. "Since he's, you know, this bad right now, it might be a better idea to just do a full-open one versus, uh, laparoscopic because then we'll see what it looks like." She untied the tourniquet after the needle was good and in, taping down the object to the teen's hand. "Is he still awake?"

" 'm still 'wake," Nosedive managed to slur. "But I dunno for how mush longer."

Duke looked at Tanya, worried that the younger duck was finally succumbing to everything his body was throwing at him. "Relax," she said. "It's the medicine that's making him, you know, sound like that." She hung the bag that held the medicine mixture up on an IV pole that was attached to the bed. "Let's take him in."

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

_Outside the Infirmary…_

Wildwing, Mallory, and Grin were still in their spots that they had when they each had left to go outside a half hour earlier. The leader was simply staring at his feet, clearly in worry over his younger brother, Mallory was drifting in and out of sleep, and Grin was still in deep meditation on the floor.

Suddenly, Wildwing got up and started pacing. He couldn't stand not knowing what was going on in the new surgical unit that Tanya had told him about. Nosedive had _never _been sick! Well, almost never anyway, since colds and the flu were very common diseases back on Puckworld. They were the equivalent to allergy season on Earth for humans.

After awhile, Mallory was beginning to find her leader's pacing-in-a-circle to be rather annoying. "Would you stop pacing and sit back down?" she asked.

"I can't help it, I'm worried," he answered back. "I can't just sit and wait, I feel like I have to do something."

"Well there's nothing you _can _do," she reminded him. "So just sit back down and wait."

"But I could have done something!" Wildwing exclaimed, stopping his pacing and facing her. "I should've dragged him to Tanya last night when he went to bed so early. I asked him if he was feeling alright and he lied." The leader paused, running a hand through his hair. "I knew it too, but figured that he'd tell me in time, that he wouldn't wait until a time like this."

"No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place," Grin said, not budging from his spot or opening his eyes. Wildwing just looked at him in confusion.

"I think what Grin is trying to say," Mallory started, sitting up to talk. "is that even if you had pressured Nosedive into answering you with a bunch of questions, he wouldn't of given you any clue that he felt bad…it was meant to happen this way." She sighed. "Doesn't make it any easier to understand though."

Wildwing just hung his head. "…I guess you're right," he finally answered. He went back to his seat, knowing it was better to not get into a fight with the red-head over how the situation ended up being. "I still feel like a lousy brother though."

Mallory smiled a little. "I think that that's probably natural, but I wouldn't know since I don't have any siblings myself," she said.

They sat once again in silence. For a long time, they didn't break it, involved in their own thoughts about the events going on.

Wildwing suddenly jerked his head up and looked at the Infirmary door. "What's wrong?" asked Mallory, as the leader stared at the door.

He didn't answer for a moment. Then, he finally said, "I…I'm not sure. I've got one of those feelings, like something just hit the pit of my stomach-"

"And is making you feel like something bad happened?" she finished. Wildwing nodded. "I'm sure it's nothing," the fiery red-head said, laying back on the bench. "It's probably your overactive leader imagination."

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Duke looked at the heart monitor that Tanya had set up before they started, noticing that the beeping sounds weren't as steady as they were a moment ago. "Hey Tanya, are they supposed to do that?" he asked, his gaze going back to her.

She looked at the monitor for a moment, then went back to what she was doing. "Oh yeah, it's okay," Tanya told him. "When someone goes under, their heartbeat slows down 'cuz of the, you know, medicine and whatever. It's like when you're sleeping, but this is, uh, drug-induced instead."

Duke just frowned (though it couldn't be seen from the weird mask Tanya had made him wear). "How do ya know all this stuff anyway? I thought you were strictly a technology duck."

"Well, if you think about it, technology and anatomy aren't so, you know, different," Tanya told him. "Besides, back on Puckworld I majored in Technological Sciences while I minored in Biology & Anatomy."

_Well that would explain why Wildwing's letting her cut his own brother open,_ the older duck thought. He continued to stand there across from Tanya as she kept working, waiting for her next instruction.

It was when she paused, however, that caught his attention fully. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It looks like we'll have to - uh - do some draining as well as take this thing out."


	4. PostOp

Well howdy! Back for another round, eh? I'm glad you are! 8D As I put this up, I'm listening to my iPod shuffle (they're awesome x3). I'd like to thank all reviewers so far and I hope everyone who's read this story really likes it since it's my first MD:TAS fic.

P.S. This is the first chapter where I actually wrote some (semi) good dialogue for Grin! And none of it's from Google! The only other note I'd like to make is that in a real appendectomy where they have to open a person up, the surgeons usually have to do two seperate procedures, one for the draining of pus and whatever else is in there and the second being where they actually take out the useless organ. But since these guys are aliens, I figured it didn't matter 8D

P.S.S. The thought about sewing one's initials was something I got from watching "Scrubs". Apparently, one of the surgeons thought it'd be funny to sew up his friend (who coincidentally, also had an appendectomy) using his name.

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. I'd be rich if I did

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Wildwing had taken up pacing around in a circle again, worry clearly marking his facial features. Mallory had pulled out a deck of cards from the Rec Room, so she and Grin were now instigated in a battle of wits as they played Jin on the floor.

"What's taking so long?" the leader thought out loud. "I thought she said that it would only take an hour."

"You gotta remember Wildwing that she also had to prep him," Mallory said, pulling a card from the pile of face-down cards. She looked at it, then put it face-up on the other pile. "She had to put him under and get started, so it would take a little longer than an hour."

"But it's been over two hours since we got kicked out!" he nearly shouted at her, stopping his pacing. Mallory remained unfazed by his outburst, watching Grin as he picked up a card, put it in his hand, then put another face-up on the floor.

"Do not let worry cloud your sense of awareness," the Zen-oriented duck said calmly. "Our little friend's aura is beginning to clear."

The unmasked leader merely 'hmphed'. "I don't have a clue how you two can just sit there so calmly," he said, picking up the bad habit of pacing again.

"Because we know that Nosedive will be alright in Tanya's hands," Mallory told him, picking up the face-up card that Grin had just discarded, switching it with another, and placing it face-down. "Jin," she simply said, showing Grin her hand. She then turned back to their leader. "Why don't you calm down and have some faith in her?"

"It's not that I _don't _have faith in Tanya or her abilities," Wildwing said. "If that was the case, I wouldn't have even let her do the surgery on him."

Grin sighed, picking up all the cards so that he could shuffle them. "My inner tranquility is beginning to disrupt," he said, a frown on his face. He was about to deal another game when the Infirmary doors opened.

Wildwing immediately stopped his pacing. Mallory stood up from the floor, followed by Grin, who pocketed the deck of cards.

Tanya came out of the Infirmary, looking somewhat tired. "How is he?" asked Wildwing as he came up to Tanya.

The designated team medic rubbed one of her eyes. "He'll be alright," she answered. "Duke and I opened him up, you know, just in time. There was some pus and other, uh, nasty stuff that we cleaned up in there-"

"Is that why it took longer?" Mallory interrupted.

Tanya nodded. "It took a little longer because we had to drain that stuff as well as take out his, uh, appendix," she said. "Duke's with him right now."

"So what happens next?" asked Wildwing. "What can we do for him?"

"Well, he needs to stay in bed for awhile," Tanya started. "At least for the first 12 hours, I want him here in the Infirmary. After that he can, you know, go back to his own room. But even then, he can't do any strenuous stuff for at least two or three weeks."

"…can I see him?" Wildwing eventually asked.

Tanya nodded. "Sure," she answered. "Just let him wake up on his own, he's still kinda, you know, out of it."

Wildwing nodded and headed for the doors. After the doors closed, Mallory asked, "Is he really alright? And are you alright? You look tired."

Tanya waved it off. "I'm just not used to being a surgeon," she answered. "Duke is kinda tired too, since we were both just standing for so long doing stuff we're not used to."

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Wildwing stood in front of the doors after they closed, just staring at Duke (who had his back turned to him) and Nosedive from across the room. He felt nervous for some reason, and he couldn't help but wonder why as he wandered over to the other side of the Infirmary.

Nosedive was on the same bed as before, looking exhausted even though he appeared to be asleep. Duke turned and looked to see Wildwing coming over. "Hey," the ex-thief greeted. "The kid's doing alright, despite what he looks like." He then chuckled to himself. "Wanna see something?"

Wildwing, looking confused since he was only halfway across, came over to the side of the bed and smiled. "He wouldn't let go of the mask?" the older Flashblade asked, noticing the sacred object of Drake DuCaine under his brother's left arm.

Duke just smiled. "Pretty much," he answered. "The kid's got an iron grip, even when he's been medicated." The older drake put a hand on his leader's shoulder. "He's just fine, the kid's just got a lot of medicine in his system. I'm sure he'll be happy that you're here when he really wakes up."

The leader took a seat next to the bed as Duke left the Infirmary. He knew when the older duck was in and out when he heard the doors open, a "What the puck are you wearing?!" from Mallory, and the doors promptly closing. Wildwing chuckled at Mallory's comment before his full attention fell to Nosedive.

Placing a hand on top of his brother's left hand, Wildwing couldn't help but smile a little. _Kinda funny how he holds on so tight, despite being asleep,_ Wildwing thought. _But then again, he wouldn't ever let go of stuff when he was little either._

For awhile, he just sat with the younger Flashblade, watching him sleep off the medicine. He couldn't remember a time in his life where he had been so worried over anything that had happened to Nosedive (aside from the battles with Dragaunus, but nothing had happened to him other than that concussion). But then again, most of those weren't situations that required surgery.

Wildwing stood up and took his hand away, turning around to leave. He figured that the others should be able to see him now that-

"…stay."

The leader looked back to see Nosedive awake. "Hey," the younger one managed to say, eyes open, though a tad unfocused.

Wildwing came back to the chair and sat down again. "Welcome back," the elder one said, putting a hand on Nosedive's forehead, resting his other arm on the bed. "How ya feeling baby bro?"

The youngest sighed, a smile on his face. "Loads better," he said. "Just kinda…"

"Woozy?" suggested Wildwing. Nosedive nodded. "I've been kinda in and out for awhile, and heard Tanya tell Duke that I'm on a lot of drugs."

The unmasked leader chuckled. "You'd be right then," he told him, moving his own hand from Nosedive's forehead to the teen's hand. "You probably don't even feel where they cut you open."

Nosedive shook his head, immediately regretting it. "I'm bettin' one of 'em stitched their initials though when they sewed me up," he said.

Wildwing couldn't help but laugh at that comment. "I highly doubt it little brother," the leader said when he managed to get his composure. "Though I dunno about Duke. Being an ex-thief and all, he might've wanted to leave a calling card."

Nosedive couldn't help but groan at that. "I hadn't even thought about that," he managed to say, starting to get tired again.

Wildwing smiled, noticing that his brother was getting sleepy again. "Just relax and don't think about it," he said, standing up. "Besides, you'll find out sooner or later."

"Where ya going bro?" Nosedive asked, noticing that Wildwing was about to leave. "I'm gonna go get the others and tell them you're awake," the older one said. "I'm sure they'll be happy to see you up, and I bet that Tanya wants to make sure you're alright."

"Don'tcha want the mask back?" Nosedive asked, holding up the object and trying not to yawn at the same time. Wildwing just smiled, pushing Nosedive's hand away. "Not right now," he said. "I told you that you could hold onto it, so I think you can for a little while longer."

"…thanks Wing."

The older duck patted Nosedive's hand and turned to leave. He was almost to the door when he heard his brother's voice again.

"You're a better leader than Canard ever would've been."

Wildwing froze, then slowly turned while attempting to mask his surprise. "What brought this up?" he asked, wondering why Nosedive would even say something like that now.

"If Canard had been here leading the team, he probably'd be yelling at me 'cuz this happened," Dive said. "He never really liked me, even back home. If he was here right now, he'd probably be yelling at me or you or both. I didn't want to worry you guys, so I didn't say anything…and I probably wouldn't have if Canard was here either."

Wildwing just stood there, worried. He made his way back across the room and looked down to Nosedive. "Well, I'll admit this, I wish you _had_ told us sooner," he said, brushing his younger brother's bangs out of his face. "I mean, puck! You scared the feathers off me when you collapsed on the ice this morning."

"Does that mean we could've tarred and re-feathered you?" Nosedive asked innocently.

The leader winced at the thought. "No Dive," Wildwing answered. "But if you're feeling bad, you don't have to keep it from me or anyone else on the team. Okay?"

"…okay. I won't. I just didn't want to bug or worry anyone."

"You won't, unless you do something like that again. Sometimes it's worse to keep secrets, no matter what they're about."

Nosedive smiled a little. "I'll remember that the next time you're having an emo moment," he said, trying to get Wildwing to cheer up.

And apparently, that comment was just the thing to cheer his older brother right up. He smiled in return. "Alright then."


	5. Epilogue

Hey guys! This is a (sort of) plot bunny that wouldn't go away after I finished reading Voltaire's "Candide". There's a character in it by the name of Pangloss who happens to be a philosopher, and...well, after you read this, read the explanation at the end xD

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS or Voltaire's "Candide"

* * *

EPILOGUE

_Later that night…_

Duke walked across the Infirmary floor, still in hideous teal scrubs, lugging a special machine behind him that Tanya said would take an automatic blood pressure of whoever was hooked up to it, as well as their temperature, heart rate, etc. He had been assigned the duty of staying the night with the recovering-from-surgery teenager.

Why, he asked?

Tanya's reasoning was simple; because he was the one of the group who was a tad of an insomniac and would be up anyway.

So he did what he was told - for once - and stuck around in the Infirmary. This was the first round of many that he'd have to get up and take the kid's vitals, so it seemed like it would be routine.

_But then again, this was Nosedive we're talking about_, Duke thought, managing to bring the machine up to the kid's bedside. Then he poked him in the shoulder. "Hey kid, wake up."

The somewhat-doped up teenager groaned. "Wha' time izit?" he asked, opening his eyes a little, only to shut them again when Duke turned on a nearby light.

"A little after eleven," the older drake answered. "Tanya left awhile ago to get some sleep, so I'll be here all night with you."

"Where's Wing?"

"After you fell asleep, he stayed in here until Tanya left. He had fallen asleep too, so Tanya figured it'd be better if he went back to you guys' room and do whatever he needed so that you don't have to do certain stuff….well, and sleep of course." Duke picked up the teenager's left arm, slipping the cuff of the machine onto Nosedive's arm. "Here, just let me do this real quick and you can go back to sleep."

The machine now attached to the teen duck was humming as Duke straightened the mask where it sat on the table next to the bed. The ex-thief had wondered why Wildwing hadn't taken the object back, but hadn't questioned him when the leader had gone back to his and Nosedive's room.

What he wasn't expecting was the question that came up from the kid next to him.

"Hey Duke?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you get the chip in your beak? Or lose your eye?"

The older mallard just looked down at the kid, surprised. "Why?" he asked. "It's not a magnificent story."

Nosedive half-shrugged. "I dunno, I just always wondered."

Duke sighed, then muttered something incomprehensible. "What?" Nosedive asked. "I couldn't hear you."

"…I said it's from syphilis."

"…what?"

Duke rolled his eyes. "It's when a loose, trashy duck-"

"I know what it is!" Nosedive exclaimed. "I meant how did you get it."

The ex-bandit shrugged. "Same way any other duck does," he answered.

"But I thought it went away with medicine?" Nosedive asked.

Duke sighed. "Not back then," he said. "When I had first joined the Brotherhood of the Blade, we had brutal training. As new recruits, we had to do everything the leader could throw at us. And after the day of training was over, we were exhausted.

"Well, eventually a duck gets used to training routine and meet the members who are higher up. One of them was a beautiful gal by the name of Roxana. One night, after a few weeks, she came to my room and…well, one thing led to another-"

"Oi, I get that!" Nosedive quickly said, feeling his face heat up. "So what happened after?"

The vital machine then stopped humming, indicating that it was done. Duke looked at what the various screens were saying. "Looks like you've still got a fever," he said. "But it ain't too bad. Otherwise, it looks like you're doing alright." He pulled the cuff off of Nosedive's arm and put it back on the machine. "See ya in a few hours," he said, turning to leave.

"Aw c'mon, you can't leave me hanging!"

Duke sighed, turned around, and sat on the bed facing Nosedive. "Well, for a few days after Roxana and I - got together - everything seemed alright. But then I started feeling really sick, so bad that I went to the Brotherhood's doc at the time. See the chip here?" he pointed to his beak. "After they found out what was wrong, they decided to take care of it."

"….and removing your eye and part of your beak is how to fix it?"

"Well, kinda," Duke answered. "I don't remember much about the process, but the doc found that part of my bill was infected, thus this chip here. Then he found out that taking my eye out would help a great deal. Why else do you think I have a digital red eye under this patch?"

Nosedive looked at the older drake's eye patch, seeing it in a new light. "So, what happened to her?"

"Oh ya, I haven't gotten to that chick yet," Duke realized. "After the 'treatment' was done to me, Roxana came in feeling horrible as well. That's when they put two and two together…and well, they killed her."

"What?!"

"That's what they do to the women in the guild," Duke said, shrugging it off. "See, even though it's called the '_Brotherhood _of the Blade', they still take female recruits, though few and far in-between. The policy was that if a female member did something to that extent, then she'd be killed, especially if she was a higher ranked member."

Nosedive looked at him in disbelief. "But why?"

Duke shrugged. "That's just the way things were," he answered. "Probably had to do with the whole equivalency of males, how the recruits had to prove themselves, and see if they could even _be _members."

Nosedive just let this sink in. "Whoa," he finally uttered. "That must've been terrible."

"Nah, not so much now that I'm looking back on it," Duke said. He patted Nosedive on the shoulder. "Just go back to sleep now, alright kid?"

"…okay..." With that, Nosedive gave into the medicine that was still in his system and fell asleep.

Duke took the machine back over to the corner of the room, a smile on his face. Then he walked out of the Infirmary, to laugh his head off at the story he had just told to the youngest of the group.

* * *

Okay, now you're probably wondering what syphilis has to do with dismemberment. Well, in Voltaire's "Candide", the sage Pangloss got syphilis from a servant girl that had attended their Baroness, and the cure to his syphilis (apparently) was to lose an eye and an ear. I dunno why, but after awhile, whenever I saw Pangloss's name in the literature, Duke popped into my head. So...ya! That's where I got the idea for this epilogue from. Since nurses and/or docs go and check on their patients after surgery, I figured something like this would be good.

Hope you enjoyed the story!


End file.
